Forensic Faux Pas and the Foundations of Defensible Digital Evidence

When digital forensics and incident response intersect with legal proceedings, even minor missteps can have major consequences. This session underscores the critical role of forensic expertise and the risks posed by its absence when precision, rigour, and defensible methodology are paramount.

Using real-world examples of investigations gone awry, we’ll explore how skilled forensic professionals uphold the integrity of digital evidence—ensuring it remains admissible, accurate, and legally sound, while also mitigating financial loss, reputational damage, regulatory fallout, and fractured business relationships.

Key Learnings

1. Work to court-admissible standards from the outset—ensuring all forensic outputs withstand scrutiny, whether for legal, regulatory, or internal purposes.
2. Robust collection, documentation, and analysis practices that meet the highest evidentiary thresholds without unnecessary overhead.
3. Why investing in skilled forensic professionals pays dividends when cases escalate, reputational risks emerge, or regulatory scrutiny intensifies.

About Brendan

Brendan has been with Forensic IT for 11 years. He specialises in complex forensic acquisition and analysis, employee investigations, eDiscovery matters and expert witness engagements.

Brendan has over 14 years’ experience as a forensic practitioner and has extensive experience with search warrants and civil search orders. Brendan has served as an expert witness in cases at VCAT, the Supreme Court (Vic), County Court (Vic) and Federal Court.

Prior to switching into forensics, Brendan worked as a Network Administrator at a non-profit organisation.